Any info available on Fisher XP-60s?

[rocknroller]

Picked a pair of these 3 way speakers up, working but woofer surrounds are super flabby. Anyone have any specs on these cabinets? RMS? Sensitivity? Freq response etc?

 

[larryderouin]

Go into the STICKIES Sub-Forum and read thru the XP Series Speakers 1959-1973 thread in the FISHER Historical threads sub-thread.

 

[rocknroller]

I had already done that. The XP-60s is not explicitly listed with specs. There is only one brief mention that they made an 's' version, but no details as to what is different in that version. I guess one could assume the actual specs are the same as the XP-60b (which is listed with specs) and it's just a cabinet or grill covering difference....

 

[larryderouin]

FISHER didn't come out with spec's per se until after Emerson took them over and they started competing with the Japanese stuff. And the 60' didn't come out until about '69 so they are quite late in the XP series. Are the surrounds rubber or butyl covered cloth surrounds? If they are butyl covered cloth then you can get some butyl goop on Ebay (speaker surround sealer) that's made for KLH's and the like. It works good also on FISHER speakers. If they are Butyl Rubber they are supposed to be somewhat "flabby". But the cabinets should be sealed. Some Mortite (plumbers putty) rolled into snakes and placed in the speaker hole ledge, and then press down the speaker and tighten equally around the screws helps seal them. Do all of the drivers.

 

[rocknroller]

I'm honestly having a difficult time telling what kind of surround is on there. See pics. I've regouped HLH woofers before, this doesn't seem quite the same and the klh woofer surrounds didn't deformed so easy when pushing on them as these do. It's almost a vinyl type feel and takes second or two to fully pop back (it always does though) But I can see in the picture there is some hatching in the pattern, some maybe it really is cloth under there and just needs to be resealed?

 

[larryderouin]

Yep it's butyl covered cloth. Plus, the roll on these is toward you, while the roll on most KLH's is the opposite way. And it's leaking some, whether thru the surround or thru the old sealing mortite or the box joint seals. You can get a tube of Silicone joint sealer and do the box joint seals, let it cure overnight, then refill the box with the stuffing, and seal the drivers to the box with the plumber's putty. When you press on one that's sealed correctly it should show some resistance. It sounds like yours isn't. It should be somewhat stiff, but not as stiff as a paper edge cone, and a little looser than a speaker designed for ported use. The box, when sealed correctly is used as part of the suspension to limit travel of the cone, so it'll feel a little mushy compared to a speaker in a ported box.

 

[rocknroller]

so could need the surrounds painted as well, correct? but I guess I'll start with the cab first

 

[rocknroller]

I pulled one woofer and can clearly see through the surround at many points so it appears that's the core issue.

 

[fred soop]

Here is the process from a pair of XP9 speakers a few years ago. First pictures are original before treatment.

xp9 1502

xp9 1503

After treatment

xp9 1504

xp9 1505

Reinstalled

xp9 1506

xp9 1507

 

[Catmanboo]

Those surrounds are as intended by the manufacturer. Do not recoat! They'll never rot like cheap-ass foam ones. You'll know if you need to reseal everything (unlikely, putty in my recently-acquired xp60s is still tacky)if when you push in on the Woofter cone, it rebounds readily. It should rebound slowly, indicative of an air-tight cabinet. This is called an acoustic suspension design.

 

[fred soop]

Which pictures are you looking at to come up with THAT solution? The last 4 pictures are AFTER recoating and did seal leaky surrounds, so, yes, they can and do go bad.

 

[larryderouin]

I did the same thing with 3 sets of KLH 20's. The leaks were so bad you could see the moon on a cloudy night. Sealed them up and VOILA! Now they sound GOOD! And the cab's are now airtight.

 

[Catmanboo]

I have a number of speakers, currently in storage, with those rubberized cloth surrounds, never saw any signs of deterioration on any of them, even though a couple pass light when hit with a bright light. I'd be hesitant to coat with anything for fear of stiffening the surrounds & possibly affecting the lower frequencies. But what do I know? if that works for ya,so be it!